About George Trails

Vision

Our vision is to establish George as a world class and top South African trail tourism destination that provide a diverse range of quality trail experiences for locals and tourists alike, whilst strengthening the local economy, developing trail sports, creating jobs and improving the health and wellness of our community.

Overview

The Green Sport Foundation is a non-profit company focused on creating awareness and solutions for a modern society plagued by obesity and technology addiction. Our aim is to help people realise the dangers of their lifestyle choices and to create solutions to get them participating in sport, with a specific focus on nature/trail related activities whilst also promoting education and awareness of nature conservation.

George Trails is an multi-sport infrastructure and tourism project of Green Sport that aims to map, mark and market a trail network where individuals and families can safely navigate their way around the beautiful natural surroundings of the City of George.

Given the pristine natural beauty of George and the Garden Route there is enormous potential for the development of nature based recreational sport in order to benefit the community, tourism and business around George. Green Sport have secured long term agreements with local landowners such as the George Municipality and MTO Forestry.

Nowhere else in South Africa will you find beaches, mountains, indigenous forests, farms lands, Pine plantations, Fynbos and semi-desert (Karoo) within 20 kilometres of a town/city centre. Mix in famous landmarks such as the Montagu Pass, Map of Africa, Seven Passes and George Peak and what you have is an incredibly diverse, scenic and unique trail experience at the heart of the beautiful Garden Route.

When completed, the George Trails network will be made up of 9 route systems and more than 40 routes of close to 1500km (in the form of single tracks, jeep track and districts roads) It has the potential to keep tourists in George for lengthy periods at a time as they explore the different routes/systems over different days. This will make it a major attraction on the national trail user’s map. Combine this with the regional Cross Cape route, and accommodation suppliers, restaurants, sport shops and many other businesses, will all benefit. The trail network also provides the platform for the establishment of trail related events to further benefit tourism and the local economy.

Tourists – Hiking, trail running and mountain biking are very important niche products and George Trails can become a major attraction.

Local businesses – A trail network provide opportunities, job creation and the platform to develop new and innovative initiatives that can contribute to the economic sustainability of George particularly through the hospitality, property, sport and recreation sectors. This product will extend the tourism season.

New Users – The trail network will be the single biggest contributor to the development of trail sports such as mountain biking and trail running as more users now know where to practice their sports without getting lost.